YEAR-END 2007 HIGHLIGHTS
We are pleased to report that 2007 was another year of strong performance for CPA®:15. We completed four investments, we opportunistically sold several facilities and we continued to provide increasing distributions to investors. As we enter 2008, the financial marketplace is very different from the one we encountered one year ago. We believe we are well positioned for this environment, as we have always put the fundamentals of income and cash flow ahead of short-term asset appreciation.
Cycle-Tested Strategy
The CPA® track record has been built over a 30-year period of investing and managing our portfolios through good times and bad. As of December 31, 2007, we own full or partial interests in 368 properties leased to 85 tenants, totaling approximately 32 million square feet. We are proud that our portfolio of properties is over 99% occupied and broadly diversified by industry, region and property type.
Entering a more challenging economic time will necessitate managing our investment portfolio closely and aggressively. By diversifying our portfolio, we seek to limit our exposure to any one company or tenant industry. In addition, we have always looked to invest in properties that are strategically important to the operations of the tenant so that even if the tenant has some financial difficulty, it will need to keep the lights on in our buildings to run its business. And finally, we look to protect investors during all market cycles by building lasting relationships with our tenants so that when they want to make a third or fourth acquisition or build a new facility, they come to us to make it happen.
Building Long-Term Relationships
In 2007, we completed four transactions, including two follow-ons. Highlights include:
- Providing German do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer Hellweg Die Profi-Baumarkte GmbH & Co. KG with $172 million of a total $446 million in financing through a partial purchase of Hellweg’s real estate subsidiary and a loan collateralized by 37 DIY retail sites. This came as a follow-on transaction to a $154 million sale-leaseback we and an affiliate completed with Hellweg in 2005.
- Providing $20.5 million of a total $31 million in sale-leaseback financing to Lindenmaier AG, whereby we acquired their largest production site as well as an industrial warehouse property. A manufacturer of turbochargers and transmission and braking system components, Lindenmaier has grown from a classical manufacturer of simple metal parts into a sophisticated developer and producer of complex precision components with ultimate end-market application for well-recognized car models, including Daimler, Ford, Audi, VW, Porsche and BMW.
Opportunistic Sales
We look to hold our real estate assets for the long term. However, we do sell properties when a good opportunity presents itself. Last year, we and two of our joint ventures completed the sale of seven properties from which our share of proceeds was $72.6 million and our share of gains was approximately $30 million. Sales included six health club properties and the Las Vegas Courtyard Marriott. In connection with the sale of two of these assets, our board of directors approved a special distribution of $.08 per share that was paid in January 2008 to shareholders of record as of December 31, 2007.
Investing for the Long RunTM
CPA®:15 has performed well over the years. As of December 31, 2007, our estimated net asset value (NAV) based on third-party appraisals was determined to be $12.20 per share—up 7% from year-end 2006 and 22% over the initial purchase price of $10 a share. Our total annual return for 2007, including quarterly cash distributions and the special cash distribution, was 13.6%. We are proud of our accomplishments but want to emphasize that CPA®:15 is a long-term investment. We have always believed in investing for the long run and adhere to this philosophy today.
As we continue to manage this broadly diversified portfolio, we will seek to provide you, our investors, with a steadily growing investment and increasing distributions. We thank you for your continued support and look forward to another successful year.
Please note that these highlights provide only a summary of the information contained in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year-ended December 31, 2007, which we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We encourage you to read the full report, which can be found at www.cpa15.com.
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